Method and apparatus for making photographic montages



Aug, 10, 1943. F. H. KRUG 3 3 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING PHOTOGRAPHIC MONTAGES Filed 0013. 5, 194-].

vwblrballlzlaaaa /5 Zhwentor Bede/"fer? Kiwi? Gttomeg Patented Aug. 10, 1943 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING PHOTOGRAPHIC MON TAGES Frederick H. Krug, Mount Vernon, Wash. Application October 3, 1941, Serial No. 413,394

2 Claims.

My invention relates to the art of photography and especially to that branch thereof whereby enlargements of several different photographic negatives are printed on a single sheet-of sensitized paper by means of an apparatus known as an enlarger, said print being known as a photomontage or simply as a montage, if the resulting picture comprises only portions of the several negatives placed in more or less blended contact with each other to form a single picture.

Such montages have usually been made by placing a mask upon the sensitive paper, covering all of the sheet except that portion on which the particular negative is to be printed, but the objection to such a method is two-fold, namely, first, the two pictures do not perfectly blend along their contacting edges but show a definite line of cleavage therebetween, and, second, it is practically impossible to make more than a single montage at a time and, therefore, there will be no exact duplicates of the montage.

II; is the principal object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus whereby these pictures form a montage will be perfectly blended,

showing no line of cleavage, and whereby any desired number of exact duplicates of the montage may be made. Other objects of the invention are to provide a simple apparatus for supporting the mask at the exact proper distance from the lens and from the printing paper to attain this perfect blending; to provide a means whereby portions of the mask may be folded back to expose a given area, said area being accurately defined in relation to the adjacent areas by such lines of fold, and the pictures thus combined blending perfectly with each other along their common borders; to simplify the process of making montages so that amateurs and professionals may make their own montages; and to provide apparatus which is simple to make and to operate, and which will produce perfectly blended montages.

I attain these and other objects by means of the apparatus and method illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my apparatus in use; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the mask shelf support; Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the said shelf adjusted to a different position; Fig. 4 is a horizontal section thereof showing the adjusting and clamping mechanism in plan; Fig. 5 is a plan view of the mask shelf; Fig. 6 is a plan view of the shelf in use, showing masking sheets secured thereon; and Fig. 7 is a section on the line 1-1 in Fig. 6.

Similar numerals of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

It is to be understood that any convenient form .of enlarger may be used, said enlarger normally comprising an electric light, with its condensing reflector; a negative holder; a lens which is ad- J'ustable in its distance from the negative, to attain proper focus; an adjustable iris or diaphragm, the above parts being enclosed in a light-tight structure so that no light passes therefrom except through the lens and iris; and means self to such construction since it is but a simple matter to incorporate my apparatus with that of an ordinary enlarger, but I have shown it as independent because in this way it applies to enlargers already in use.

Referring to Fig. l of the drawing, the enlarging apparatus is mounted on a fiat board I by means of a vertical standard 2, secured to the board i. A sleeve 3 is slidably mounted upon the standard 2 and may be adjusted thereon by turning the knob 4. Said sleeve 3 carries an arm 5 which carries the container 6 in which the lamp (not shown) and the negative holder "I are mounted, and having a bellows carrying the lens and iris element 8 in adjusted position from the negative holder, by means of a clamp 9 engaging a carrier rod I0 depending down from the container 6 or the arm 5. All of th above apparatus is old and is illustrated merely to show the application of my apparatus and method thereto.

Also I prefer to use an ordinary printing easel II which comprises a board I2 and adjustable holding bands I3 adapted to hold the printing paper firmly on the board I2, said board I2 being supported on the main board I of the enlarger and being shift-able thereon to bring the central axis of the lens substantially in the center of the paper on which the picture is to be printed, after which the easel is not to be moved when printing the same set of montage copies.

I support, between the lens element 8 and the easel I I, a shelf or tray comprising a rectangular frame I4 supporting a glass plate I5. The supporting means for the shelf comprises a base I6, secured to the board I by screws, or otherwise, preferably closely adjacent to the standard 2, said base supporting a vertical standard. This second standard comprises a Vertical rod I I, se-

cured to the base It, and having a, longitudinal groove l8 extending from end toend therein. A sleeve 19 rides on the rod I1 and is adjustable therealong by mean of a friction 'wheel 20 mounted thereon and entering in the groove i8 and turned by the knob 2l, whereby the sleeve l9 may be raised or lowered on the rod H. The sleeve l9 carries a circular turntable 22, lying in a vertical plane and having a central screwthreaded pin 23 extending out therefrom. This pin ZBcarries'a clam 24, which may be turned on said pin and which is clamped in any turned,

position thereon by the thumbnut 25. The clamp I piece 24 has a rectangular groove Zion its faceadjacent to the turntable 22.

A rectangular supporting arm 2] lies in the said groove 26 and is of such size as to fit therein 7 and to extend very slightly therefrom so asto be free to move longitudinally in the groove when the clamp 24 is not tightened by the thumb, nut 25, but so as to be firmly clamped in such adjusted position by screwin the nut 25 tightly against the clamp piece 211. Thus, when the nut 25 is not tightened, the arm zlmaybe adjusted vertically by turning the clamp 24 on the turntable pin 23 and horizontally by sliding it in the groove 26, and may be clamped in such adjusted position by tightening the nut 25 on the pin 23, thus pressing the arm 2? against the turntable 22.

The arm 21 carries'a vertical friction disk 28 on its outer end,'and said disk is provided with a central screw-threaded pin 29 extending therefrom. Theshelf frame Mcarries a complementary friction disk 39, said disk 36' having a hole through which the threaded pin 29 freely passes. A thumbnut 3| is mounted on the pin to obtain the desired size of the enlargement on the easel H, and then the lens 8 is adjusted to bring the enlargement to proper focus.

Then secure the contact print, or proof, on a second sheet of glass, with the printed side in contact therewith, and place them on'the glass shelf 45 so that the contact print is between the glass plate i5 and this second sheet of glass, and

move the sheet about on the surface of the shelf 15 until the said print is alinement With the image of the negative shining thereon, and then, with the diaphragm closed, adjust the sleeve i8 upon the rod ll by means of the knob 21, until a fine white line appears completely surrounding the said contact print, then continue the adjustment of the sleeve IS on the rod ll until the said white line. disappears. This second adjustment must notbe carried so far as to permit a dark line to appear around the said print.

The above adjustment of the shelf M to the position thus defined is of extreme importance in making montages by this method, especially if'acentral I-laloette picture made in accord- 29 and is adapted to clamp the disks 28 and 30 together. Thus the shelf Id may be adjusted upon the end of the arm 21 so that the glass plate l5 thereon may be made parallel with the easel l I, namely at right-angles to the axis of the lens element 8. Since the standard base It is secured to the board I beside the standard Zoftheenlarger, and it is desirable that the center of the shelf I4 lie in the axis of the lens element, the

above-described friction disk 30 is formed in the. corner of the said shelf 14, thus throwing the center line thereof towards the axis of the lens element 8.

' In addition to the above-described apparatus I build up a compound mask whosecomponent parts depend on the arrangement of the several pictures in the resulting montage. It is, of course, understood that the particular picture being printed on the montage, is printed successively on all the sheets of sensitized paper 32, in the easel ll, one after the other, without moving either the negative in the holder 1, the easel II, or the mask on the glass plate l5 of the shelf l4, and that when one such picture has been printed on all the sheets 32, the next contiguous picture is similarly printedand ,so forth, until "the entire montage has been Printed on all of i the sheets, then all of these sheets 32 are developed and the several pictures appear thereon.

Now, before describing the mask, it is necessary, for clearness, tofdescribe a portion of the operations incident to m'aking these montage pictures. The first step is to make a contact .print, or proof, of one of the negatives to be usedQon a sheet of sensitized paper slightly larger thanthe size of the negative; tl1en, vvhen this print is completed and dry, the same negative isplaceddin the center of the negative holder '5.

and the sleeve 3, on the standard '2, is adjusted "part of the easel so that it will then shade the 4 ance with my Patent #2,0l9,495 is being used in the montage, and is for the purpose of establishing the plane in which the image on the mask to be placed on the said adjusted shelf is equal in size to the negative in the negative holder l. When this adjustment'has been made the shelf is not to be moved from this position throughout the entire process of printing all the copies of this particular negative, nor of any other negative'unless the size of the enlargement is to be changed, in which case the adjustment must be repeated for the particular ratio of enlargement.

position of the shelf is such that the shadow of a mask paper placed upon the shelf will show a penumbra upon the easel, and the width of this penumbra will depend on the adjustment of the diaphragm or iris.

Now, if the mask is tipped over, without moving the edgeon which it is tipped, so as to bring said edge coincident with its first position, but with the mask onthe other side of the line, then the shadow of that border in the second position will coincide with the former shadow, but the sum of the light at any spot in the two overlapping penumbras will be equal to the unshaded light. In other words, by attaching a mask paper, alongone edge, to the glass, by hinge means, so that the mask can be flipped over,

without moving the said edge,-from shading one adjacent part of the easel, the penumbra of the mask in the first position will coincide with that of the second position, and be of inverse intensity, so that the total action of the light on the sensitized paper along the penumbra area is such as if no mask had'been present on the shelf. The effect of this fact is, if a single negative is used, and a number of portions of thearea are successively and equally exposed by suitably arranging the mask papers, that the resulting print will show absolutely no trace ofany mask Whatever and will be a print of thewhole negative;

I and if different negatives are used in the several exposed areas the blending of one edge into the other edge will be perfect and no line of demarkation will be made between the prints, since the intensity of the light at any spotin the penumbra of one picture will vary with its distance a in such penumbra and that of the other picture will be the inverse thereof,-

Now, in applying the above facts to the making of montages of two different pictures, a single piece of mask paper 33 is attached to the glass l by means of two strips of Cellophane tape 34, or other similar material, outside of the lighted area, and each such piece of tape is pressed tightly on the glass up to the very edge of the mask paper 33 by creasing it, as at 35 (Fig. '7) with the thumbnail, or otherwise. When one picture has been exposed on all the prints to be made on the sensitive paper 32, then the mask paper 33 is flipped over, the edge thereof being held in its former position by the tapes 34, and the other picture is exposed on the said partially exposed sensitive paper 32, thus completing the two-picture montage.

It is evident that this mask paper may be placed in any position and at any angle across the lighted area (Fig. 6) and that any desired combination of. pieces of mask paper may be made. For instance, in Fig. 6 is shown the arrangement of mask papers for making a threepicture montage and the same method may be extended to include any number of pictures desired. In the three-picture montage shown, the area 36 is first exposed on all the sheets 32 of sensitized paper, the other areas being protected by the masks 33 and 31 from exposure to light; then, the paper being exposed is covered while the negative is changed and new adjustments are made, if necessary, and the mask 31 is flipped over to cover the area 36, just exposed to form picture #1, and thus to expose the area 38, formerly covered by it, and all the sheets 32 are printed with this picture #2 in said exposed area 38; then the process is repeated when the third negative is placed in the holder 1, the mask 31 is removed and the mask paper 33 is flipped over to cover the areas 35 and 38 which have already been exposed, and to uncover the area 39 formerly protected by it, and then all the sheets 32 are printed with picture #3, thus completing the montages. Since the lines of contact of the several pictures have not been moved when the several masks were flipped over, the penumbras of all edges will blend perfectly on the finished montage picture, as above explained.

Of course, there is no limit to the variety of pictures which may be thus produced. A particularly attractive form of montage may be made around a central figure made in accordance with my Patent No. 2,019,495 by first making a contact print of the central subject, cutting out the picture from the contact print and using the remainder of the print for the mask; printing the picture through the cut-out area as in said patent; then replacing the cut-out part of the mask and fastening it securely to the glass shelf I5; then removing the first mask and proceeding as above described to form a series of montage pictures around the central figure (now shielded by the original cut-out contact picture) to make the complete montage.

In practice it is usually more convenient to have the edge of the mask cut on a straight line as shown in the drawings, but if it is desired a curved line may be cut in the mask paper and, in this case, the two parts thus out are fitted together on the glass and are separately fastened thereto by such adhesive tape 34. Then first one said part is removed to expose its area and then it is replaced, care being taken that it is put in exactly the same position as it formerly occupied, and the other part is removed to expose its area.

It is evident that one of the uses of this method of blending the contiguous edges of two or more pictures is to form panoramic pictures taken from a series of consecutive single pictures, and such a picture will appear as if made from a single panoramic negative, no joint being discoverable in the print to show Where one picture overlaps its adjacent picture.

It is, of course, to be understood that in the use of this method of printing, one negative alone is in the negative holder 1 at a time, and that such negative must be placed therein in the cor rect position to bring the desired part of the picture on the exposed area.

Another use of this method is found in the case where a group of persons have been photographed together and several negatives taken, but the expression of one person may be best on one negative and that of another person may be best in another negative. In this case the two desired negatives may be used for their particular parts, as above described, and the delivered prints will be therefrom Without showing any line of cleavage therebetween, and will show the two parties in their selected expressions.

There are many other uses to which this methed and apparatus may be put which will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and who are able to apply their imaginations to the creation of special effects in the resulting picture, but the above description is deemed sufficient to enable those interested, whether professional or amateur, to practice the art of making perfectly blended montage pictures. As stated in the above description, the secret of success in making such pictures lies in bringing the shelf I to the proper point of balance and in changing the mask from one position to the next position without moving the position of the edge of the mask.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In photographic printing apparatus, the combination with an adjustable shelf-supporting means; a transparent shelf supported thereby; a mask; and flexible adhesive means securing said mask to said shelf along one edge of said mask, whereby said mask may be exposed successively on its two sides to successively cover and uncover contiguous portions of said shelf without moving said secured edge and therefore without moving the dividing line between said portions.

2. In photographic printing apparatus, the combination with an enlarging apparatus supported by a standard secured to a base, in vertical position over the base; of a vertical standard secured to said base adjacent to said first standard; a sleeve adjustably mounted on said second standard; an arm adjustably mounted on said sleeve; a transparent shelf, including a frame; and a friction clamp connecting said arm to the corner of said frame, whereby the center of said frame is brought to approximately coincide with the central vertical axis of said enlarging apparatus.

FREDERICK H. KRUG. 

